NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
Polls close in Queens as voters wait
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO &
ZACHARY GEWELB
Voting sites across the
borough have closed Tuesday,
June 22, as of 9 p.m., marking
the end of the primary elections.
According to the city’s
Board of Elections (BOE),
more than 35,000 Queens residents
— approximately 1.6
percent of the borough’s population
— took advantage of
early voting, which took place
from June 12 to 20, representing
about 18 percent of all the
early votes cast in New York
City.
But Queens had the most
absentee ballots requested of
any borough, with more than
66,000 requested and more
than 23,000 completed ahead
of Election Day, according to
the BOE.
In-person voter turnout on
June 22 seemed relatively low
throughout most of the day in
polling sites across the borough.
However, a worker at a
polling site in Rochdale Village
at P.S. 80 was impressed
to see their turnout Tuesday
morning, telling QNS they
didn’t “expect this many
people.”
In Astoria, two City Council
candidates and a comptroller
candidate continued
campaigning near the P.S. 122
polling site, saying they were
full of energy and ready to
continue talking with potential
voters.
Many Queens voters
shared their thoughts about
this year’s election process
with QNS. Most seemed to
understand the newly implemented
ranked-choice voting
system.
Nicholas Seotchie, a Bayside
resident who cast his
vote at Bayside High School
Tuesday afternoon, argued
that electoral reform has been
an ongoing issue in the U.S.
and said he supports rankedchoice
voting, noting that
some states and cities already
implemented the system.
“I think I was sufficiently
educated on how to use it and
the process went smoothly,”
Seotchie said.
But there were some
Queens voters who were still
skeptical about the new process,
with others confused
about how to use it.
Nikki Breedlove, who
voted at the Rochdale Village
Community Center, said she
thinks ranked-choice voting
“disenfranchises” the Black
and brown communities.
“Blacks and browns don’t
turn out the same way to vote
like other areas,” Breedlove
said. “Then what happens?
We are the ones that suffer
and it’s not the other communities
and that’s terrible. We
do vote, but we don’t vote in
primaries and we don’t vote
when need to vote and that
hurts us.”
But the new voting system
has been found to not only
benefit those communities in
particular, but also elevate
candidates who are of color
and who are women, according
to FairVote.org.
Although official results
won’t be finalized until July
12, below you will find the
preliminary results from the
city’s Board of Elections for
Queens borough president
and local City Council races
as of approximately 8 a.m.
TIMESLEDGER | Q 20 NS.COM | JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2021
Wednesday morning, June
23.
For updates on the citywide
races, including mayor,
comptroller and public advocate,
visit PoliticsNY.com.
Queens
borough
president
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
(95.45 percent of precincts
reported):
Elizabeth Crowley: 40.20
percent of the vote (62,738
votes)
Donovan Richards (incumbent):
41.53 percent of
the vote (64,814 votes)
Jimmy Van Bramer:
17.82 percent of the vote (27,813
votes)
City Council
District 19
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
(99 percent of precincts
reported):
Tony Avella: 37.10 percent
of the vote (3,883 votes)
Adriana Aviles: 8.46 percent
of the vote (885 votes)
Nabaraj KC: 1.46 percent
of the vote (153 votes)
Austin Shafran: 20.03 percent
of the vote (2,096 votes)
Richard J. Lee: 29.90 percent
of the vote (3,129 votes)
Francis E. Spangenberg:
2.53 percent of the vote (265
votes)
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES
(99 percent of the precincts
reported):
John-Alexander Sakelos:
45.96 percent of the vote (1,446
votes)
Vickie Paladino: 52.70
percent of the vote (1,658
votes)
City Council
District 20
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
(97.53 percent of the
precincts reported):
Hailing Chen: 15.32 percent
of the vote (1,265 votes)
John Choe: 16.56 percent
of vote (1,367 votes)
Anthony Miranda: 15.32
percent of the vote (1,265
votes)
Sandra Ung: 24.28 percent
of the vote (2,004 votes)
Neng Wang: 1,237 percent
of the vote (1,237 votes)
Ming-Kang Low: 0.45 percent
of the vote (37 votes)
Dao Yin: 5.14 percent of the
vote (424 votes)
Ellen Young: 16.39 percent
of the vote (1,378 votes)
City Council
District 21
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
(82.86 percent of precincts
reported):
David Aiken Jr.: 16.43 percent
of the vote (844 votes)
Ingrid Gomez: 18.55 percent
of the vote (953 votes)
Francisco Moya (incumbent):
52.16 percent of the
vote (2,680 votes)
George Onuorah: 6.01 percent
of the vote (309 votes)
Talea Wufka: 6.34 percent
of the vote (326 votes)
City Council
District 22
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
(95.45 percent of the
precincts reported):
Leonardo Bullaro: 7.29
percent of the vote (1,011
votes)
Tiffany Cabán: 49.32 percent
of the vote (6,838 votes)
John J. Ciafone: 9.35 percent
of the vote (1,296 votes)
Catherina Gioino: 4.73
percent of the vote (656 votes)
Evie Hantzopoulos: 26.26
percent of the vote (3,641
votes)
Nicholas Velkov: 2.87 percent
of the vote (398 votes)
City Council
District 23
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
(91.92 percent of precincts
reported):
Steve Behar: 13.24 percent
of the vote (1,625 votes)
Jaslin Kaur: 26.37 percent
of the vote (3,327 votes)
Voting stations at P.S. 166 in Astoria in the primary election on June 22. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
PoliticsNY.com PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews
/PoliticsNY.com
/NS.COM
/FairVote.org
/PoliticsNY.com
